Netflix Grabs Another Big Studio Sci-Fi Movie

The year is 2018. The world is in chaos. All movies are Netflix movies. And also TV shows are old TV shows that Netflix bought and brought back.

Just days after Netflix shocked the entertainment world by releasing The Cloverfield Paradoxon its site just hours after announcing it had acquired the movie from Paramount, the streaming service has gotten its greedy mitts on another high-profile sci-fi movie from a major studio. This time, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie is Extinction, starring Michael Pena and Lizzy Caplan. The film was previously supposed to open in theaters on January 26. Instead, Universal pulled the film and then sold it to Netflix, who will reportedly release the movie later in 2018.

Here’s the plot synopsis:

The thriller centers on a man who has a recurring nightmare of losing his family. When the planet is invaded by an alien force, he discovers an unknown strength as he fights for his family's survival. Ben Young, whose debut feature Hounds of Love earned strong reviews out of Venice in 2016, directed from a screenplay by Spenser Cohen (Moonfall) and Bradley Caleb Kane.

Both of these deals come on the heels of Netflix also picking up some of the rights to Annihilation, the Alex Garland sci-fi film that will not pop up on Netflix just a few weeks after it opens in theaters later this month. Based on all of this, you have to assume Netflix’s mysterious algorithms are telling them people like their sci-fi movies. Like, a lot. Or that they’re simply willing to pay so much money for the rights to glossy films with decent casts that it’s easier for studios to dump risky projects than hope they manage to connect with audiences in theaters. Or that Netflix turned into the old direct-to-DVD bin at Blockbuster so gradually we didn’t even notice.